Social Justice Paper

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Bhadoria 1 Siya Bhadoria, Alex, Shiksha, Rebeca, Marcelo Dr. Birts 12 March 2023 Gender Wage Disparities What societal issues come into play impacting women when it comes to the gender wage difference within specific lower paying occupations? How can the government legislation and corporate workplace policies help implement a change to close the gender pay gap? In a country where closing the gender inequality has been a priority since 1963, the fact that women are still fighting for equal pay is eye-opening to say the least. The wage disparity between men and women harms women in America by reducing their income and overall making it difficult to balance work with family responsibilities. The primary reason behind the gender wage gap is that women face uneven opportunities at every stage of their education and job choices ( Schieder, Gould). Many people feel that the gender wage gap has improved, but it is still common and persists, which provides more than enough cause for it to be as big of an issue as it has been since 1963. On average women earn 82 cents for every dollar men make, and this difference in their average earnings is due to various reasons ranging from occupational segregation, racial factors, and social challenges that separates the earning potential between men and women (Bleiweis). In order to make progress toward narrowing the gender pay gap, we first need to understand how these factors compound with each other to impact the earning difference between men and women. According to the Center for American Progress, women make up 47 percent of the labor force (McClain, Cahn). In the United States in 2021, around 71.75 million women were employed (“Employed Women - Number in the U.S. 2021.”). “This is an increase from the

Bhadoria 2 previous year, when 69.23 million women were employed, and looks to be returning to pre- coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic levels” (“Employed Women - Number in the U.S. 2021.”). Even though more women have decided to participate in the workforce, women make up 58 percent of lower paying occupations and make up 69 percent in the lowest paying occupations ( Low Wage Jobs Are Women’s Jobs - National Women's Law Center ). Since a disproportionately large numer of women are employed in lower and lowest paying occupations, therefore, in order to address the gender pay gap, we need to understand how the societal norms and the COVID pandemic has impacted the earning potential for people in these occupational groups. The first factor to consider is occupational segregation that is withholding growth opportunity for women in different industries. Occupational segregation is a major contributor to wage discrepancies between men and women. Certain occupation groups tend to be heavily women dominated (e.g. education and health services) whereas certain occupation groups tend to be predominantly male occupied (e.g. mining and construction) (“Women in the Labor Force: A Databook : BLS Reports” ). According to data collected by the Beaurau of Labor Statistics, “1 8.7 percent of software developers, 27.6 percent of chief executives, and 36.4 percent of lawyers were women, whereas 88.9 percent of registered nurses, 80.5 percent of elementary and middle school teachers, and 61.7 percent of accountants and auditors were women” (“Women in the Labor Force: A Databook : BLS Reports” ). These disproportionate level of participation by women in lower paying occupation is a major contributor to lower mean income for women. Racial factors have also played a role when it comes to the gender pay gap. According to a study conducted by the 2022 State of the Gender Pay Gap Report comparing the controlled median pay between white males and black women, the salary discrepancy was 97 percent (“2022 State of the Gender Pay Gap Report”). This implies a $2,000 salary discrepancy for black

Bhadoria 3 women ( $73,000), as compared to white males ($75,000) (“2022 State of the Gender Pay Gap Report”). Another reason why a wage gap is present is because mothers with children under the age of 18 were more than likely than fathers in the same circumstance to reduce working hours. They feel as if they cannot give their best efforts at work and turn down promotions due to the lack of ability to balance parenting responsibilities and workload (Barroso, Brown). A lot of research shows that the gender pay gap is a main result of the childbearing and maternity leaves. According to a Pew Research Center poll, where both parents worked full-time. One environmental element that contributes to more women taking more maternity leave is societal standards that make it difficult for moms to remain in the employment(Leisenring ). Because of the notion that they are the primary parent to a kid, women are denied certain options, such as a profession that demands traveling different countries or more stricter work schedules. In The scholarly journal, "The Wages of Mothers' Labor: A Meta-Regression Analysis", the author notes that there are multiple barriers to equal pay for married women, because they increase the amount of time they spend on domestic activities while the father's participation diminishes, resulting in a wage cost (De Linde Leonard, Stanley). Women take on more maternal leaves because they feel like it is their duty to take on those maternal responsibilities. Hence, some women lose ambition and goal towards the success of their careers because of this reason. These responsibilities appear to harm some women more than others. Furthermore, Claudia Goldin, a Harvard economist who studies the gender wage gap, has published some really relevant study findings which demonstrate how societal norms contribute to the occupational segregation resulting in gender pay gaps. She's created a chart in which each dot symbolizes a separate job in different income categories. Based on the average salary of

Bhadoria 4 males in that job, the job pays more towards the right. The technology field dots are near to the 0 line, suggesting that the wage difference between men and women is small. The same may be said for scientific occupations (Kliff). Nonetheless, examining the business field dots, the placement is suggesting that they are among the greatest wage inequalities (Kliff). Some business jobs require more traveling and more strict meetings to attend to, that is why it is harder for women with children to partake in those actions. Therefore, certain women can not take on these promotions or roles in their career due to the unflexibility of these job descriptions. These differences in income gaps across different occupations can be explained by the fact that some occupations have set hours while others are more flexible. The wage disparity between men and women is bigger in occupations that need very specific hours as compared to the other occupations with much more flexible schedules. Heather Bussing states that, “The reality is that in 40% of U.S. Households, women are the primary or sole earner”(“The Gender Pay Gap in America in 2022”). The gender pay gap severely impacts families, where women are the primary breadwinners for their families. Women who are sole providers to their families find it more difficult to grow financially as a result of lower pay. Because of their lower income, it is more challenging for them to deal with crises or think about saving for retirement. These can have serious effects because anything that financially harms women also harms families. Women generally lose their earrning potential and may be excluded from some professions and fields. This in turn, will cause them to not be able to reach their retirement plans and also affect their family’s financial opportunity. Besides the financial consequences that directly impact families, the societal norms and occupational segregation factors that contribute to gender wage gap also have non-tangible consequences. According to a study, “ Women are making up only about 30 percent of doctoral

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